DENVER, CO – AUGUST 16: Reliever AdamOttavino #37 of the Colorado Rockies pitches in the fifth inning against the Miami Marlins at Coors Field on August 16, 2012 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images)

PHILADELPHIA — When the Rockies arrived in Los Angeles on Aug. 6, they might as well have been shopping a screenplay for a Hollywood script.

Forget “The Blair Witch Project.” This was “The Thin Air Pitch Project.” The Rockies were threatening to post the worst ERA by a rotation, flirting with the 1996 Tigers’ 6.64 mark. The bullpen was trudging toward the finish line, staring at a future of oxygen masks and ice tubs.

Nearly two months after the advent of the four-man, elastic waistband rotation, the Rockies finally gained traction that night at Dodger Stadium. Drew Pomeranz didn’t allow a run, piggybacker Adam Ottavino picked up the win and Jim Tracy went viral with Vin Scully’s “blinking manure” lip-reading during the manager’s ejection.

The starters have improved, but their lack of length remains a concern. What the relievers have done is nothing short of remarkable. Their 20 consecutive scoreless innings streak, broken Friday night in the seventh, tied a franchise record. This is the last season the Rockies expected to set a record that didn’t inspire the fetal position.

“No kidding,” Ottavino said.

Since Aug. 6, under bullpen coach Jim Wright’s watch, the bullpen is 18-13 with a 3.37 ERA, the fourth-lowest mark in the National League. At rain-soaked Citizens Bank Park on Saturday, manager Jim Tracy was asked if this success meant this nontraditional staff was sustainable next season.

“There are some things that we have to continue to look at and talk about, making sure we have guys in the right role,” Tracy said. “They are pitching better because we are executing better.”

The Rockies are committed to using some version of the four-man rotation next season. That could include the octopus — four starters, four piggybackers who are former starters — two outliers and a traditional setup crew. And it could allow some pitchers, such as Jhoulys Chacin and Jeff Francis, not to be subject to the 75-pitch count.

Though the starters continue to have limited success on this short leash, they have avoided the implosions so common in the first four months. The relievers have made this nontraditional staff work.

“I wouldn’t have been able to tell you we have been doing that well. I am just proud to be part of a group that takes the ball and does its job when called upon,” setup man Matt Belisle said. “These guys aren’t deterred. The bullpen has a greater workload, but the piggybackers are really like starters.”

Belisle makes a valid point. The piggyback relievers know they are going to pitch on every third day. That allows a predictable routine between outings and adequate rest.

“We feel like if we get the ball with a lead or in a close game, that we are going to win,” Ottavino said.

However, their appearances get locked in, meaning that Josh Roenicke gets burned on a night when the team doesn’t have a great chance to win. The only way a piggybacker’s schedule is changed is if the starter goes seven innings, which has been about as rare as Halley’s comet.

There are other wrinkles, of course, that make its feasibility over five months (before rosters are expanded Sept. 1) questionable. For starters, the lack of innings from starters creates difficult decisions in the lineup.

Piggybackers are left to bat, as Josh Roenicke did in a close game in Los Angeles with runners at second and third. Carlos Torres has also repeatedly hit in key situations. The knee-jerk reaction is to pinch hit for them. But that’s not always possible if the bullpen is compromised from a previous game.

What if, for instance, the Rockies go extra innings? It has happened twice since the Rockies went to the four-man. It’s a dangerous spot because the piggybackers aren’t available, leaving the Rockies facing the real possibility of running out of pitchers or throwing the next day’s starter.

The other issue is the bench. If the Rockies go with a 13-man staff, they would have to use their lineup in American League fashion, employing pinch hitters infrequently. And using one player to hit and another to run for him would almost be out of the question, meaning that pitchers such as Tyler Chatwood and Alex White would continue to be called upon to do work on the bases.

The past month has shown that Tracy is capable of pulling the strings, especially with the added flexibility of using a match-up arm before the piggybacker.

What it hasn’t proven is that this is realistic from April 1 to Sept. 1.

“Jim has done a brilliant job of carrying this out,” said former Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, the master at moving bullpen chess pieces as evidenced by last year’s World Series title. “But I don’t know if you can do it for a full season.”

Troy joined The Denver Post in 2002 as the Rockies' beat writer and became a Broncos beat writer in 2014 before assuming the lead role before the 2015 season. He is a past president of the local chapter of Baseball Writers Association of America and has won more than 20 local and national writing awards since graduating from the University of Colorado journalism school with honors in 1993.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Tyreek Hill had touchdowns receiving and on a punt return, Kansas City’s defense made life miserable for Oakland quarterback Derek Carr, and the Chiefs beat the Raiders 21-13 on a frigid Thursday night to take control of the AFC West. Charcandrick West also had a touchdown run for the Chiefs (10-3). They moved into a first-place...